Elf, Descending the Mountain (2)
Elf, Descending the Mountain (2)
Dohwa sat on the edge of the mountain, looking out at her long-time home.
"Mountain......."
Her words dragged on. Her steps did, too.
After the Heavenly Demon Blood Incident (Cheonma-hyeolsa), Dangsan had lost its voice. Even after Saessak-i grew into the World Tree that supports the world and Dangsan gorged itself on the abundant energy, it showed no signs of waking up.
It was because it had exhausted all its earth energy to embrace the friends from the west.
She had to leave such a mountain behind.
It would have been stranger if she could walk away easily.
"Is it because I am of the Jang-i-jok?"
Elf.
Called the Jang-i-jok because they are a clan with long ears.
Called the Jang-saeng-jok because they are a clan of immortals who live forever.
They say that because they live so long, their attachment to the place they live is great.
"Dangsan-a. I made you my home. Is that why I can't bring myself to leave?"
She stroked the grass of Dangsan carefully and murmured to herself.
"......Maybe I just wanted to say goodbye."
Yeong-yeong, Snake, and Tiger had left with her seeing them off. Perhaps she wanted to leave while being seen off by someone, too. Not by the many friends of the forest, but by her meaningful home.
Twitch, twitch.......
Her long ears twitched.
She had heard the breeze blowing in, carrying the sounds of the world.
"The heavens are urging me to descend. I'll ask one last time. Dangsan-a, I want to hear your voice."
Flap, flap-flap-flap!
Dohwa's ears flapped as if they were about to fly away. It was a habit she had whenever she tried to listen to a specific sound or concentrate.
—Kkiruk
Pak, pabak—
The sound of birds chirping, the sound of moles digging the earth.
All the sounds of the world gathered at the tips of her pointed ears, rode down the earlobes, and lingered loudly in her ears.
The hearing of the Jang-i-jok captured every one of those sounds clearly.
Dangsan was quiet.
Only the sounds of the world moving could be heard; not even a trace of the mountain's voice could be caught. Would she be unable to hear it until the very end? The voice of her oldest friend.
'I wanted to hear it one last time, but I can't stay any longer.'
She felt a little sad.
She was a person, yet she was a Jang-i-jok.
She possessed both the composed nature of the Jang-saeng-jok and the colorful, varied nature of short-lived humans. Right now, the petty heart of a human came first.
Even though she knew Dangsan had helped her protect her friends, the long silence felt cruel.
Her oldest friend was leaving her home, and she hated the mountain for not saying a single word. The human heart was just that fickle.
"I really hate you."
The heavens, Dangsan, and me.......
To live means to become a part of the world.
Starting a family, catching and boiling chickens, gathering herbs, farming, tending to a village.
All of that gathered together makes up the 'world'.
This was the same for the Jang-i-jok.
Even if they were closer to nature than people, since humans were the ones deeply rooted in this land, there were many cases where the Jang-i-jok lived mixed in with humans.
Her case was the special one; that was the norm.
Some Jang-i-jok reigned at the very peak of the Gangho martial world, and others moved the country as high-ranking officials.
Dohwa had lived longer than other Jang-i-jok, but she had lived all those years not with humans, but with nature.
She breathed with the forest and walked with the wind.
She lived with animals and the plants of the mountains and streams as her friends, and she never took a life in vain.
Like that.
Living as a true friend of nature for hundreds of years.
Naturally, she became able to hear the voice that the world whispered secretly.
It was what they called Cheon-gi (Heavenly Secrets), but Dohwa, who had no interest in the world below the mountain called the Murim, had no way of knowing. She just heard the sounds the world whispered to her.
It was the same now.
From the night before she decided to descend the mountain, the world had been whispering continuously.
[Friend of the spiritual beasts, mother of the mountain. Leave this land. Gardener who cultivated the world, potter who molded this sacred tree. Like the trees you have raised, you shall benefit this land.]
'Who said I wasn't going down?'
It wasn't like she wasn't going to go down, but she hated the whispering that kept urging her. She had lived on this land for hundreds of years; couldn't she at least say goodbye? Why was it so inflexible?
[Then go down.]
"I told you, I'm going down!"
Dohwa stared blankly at the beoseon (traditional socks) wrapping her feet.
"But, Heaven......"
The beoseon stained with the color of dirt from running along the dirt slopes for years. Even when she made up her mind to move her feet, even when she turned her body. Her steps, unable to leave Dangsan.
"What am I supposed to do when my feet won't move......."
Thud—
It was then, when she kicked a pebble toward Dangsan out of spite.
Suddenly, the world's whispering stopped abruptly.
It was extremely quiet. Not even a sound entered Dohwa's ears. All things were holding their breath.
A breeze blew in, brushing through her shiny hair. It was equally quiet, but it felt like a fetus kicking a mother's womb, or like a belly rising when taking a breath.
A tremendous life force had begun to stir.
"Mountain......? Is that you, Dangsan?"
-Friend.-
A familiar voice was heard. Dohwa's pointed ears stood up straight like a rabbit's, following the voice.
Twitch, twitch—
It was Dangsan, taking the form of the sound of the wind, carrying a heavy scent of subtle grass and pushing her back as if saying goodbye.
-My friend Dohwa.-
"Mountain, Mountain...... You've woken up."
Dohwa wiped away her tears. When was the last time she had a conversation with Dangsan?
"Now I can leave with a light heart."
-Dohwa. Don't worry. Aren't your friends all over the world? The O-ak (Five Great Mountains) will embrace you, and Cheon-san (Heavenly Mountain) will push you forward. Dohwa, Dohwa. Don't worry and go.-
"Mountain, I'll be back. It won't take long."
She smiled shyly and bowed her waist.
The wind that brushed her cheek once rode down the mountain ridge, then swept across the mountain range like a wave of a hand and disappeared. With the last words it had said to Yeong-yeong, Tiger, and Snake.
-Come back anytime.-
The Dangsan wind did not blow anymore.
It was Dangsan's farewell.
Dohwa prepared to leave with a much lighter heart.
She wrapped the Dan-yak (medicinal pills) she had made over a long time in grass leaves brought by the rabbits, and packed the acorns collected by the squirrels into her arms.
"Wild Boar, I told you, this is Cho-o (Aconite) and Bu-ja (Aconite root)......."
-Oink? Oink-oink?-
The wild boar, who had pulled up grass for her to eat on the way, tilted its head.
"Sigh."
She sighed deeply and reluctantly packed the Cho-o and Bu-ja. If used well, it becomes medicine.
Having packed all her luggage.
She began to bathe.
She bathed in the stream flowing from deep within Dangsan, washing every corner of her body clean.
Flap, flap.
"Thank you, Peacock, I told you the sparrows don't need to help......."
-Chirp, chirp!-
After washing, she dried herself with the birds' wing-flapping, and put on clothes made by mixing silk spun by silkworms with the fur of other animals. It was black Central Plains clothing.
It resembled the clothes worn by Yeong-yeong and Sambong, her only human friends from before.
-Dohwa-nim, you are beautiful. You look just like a fairy......!-
-Shall I put a flower in your hair? The fringe trees, which haven't been seen much lately, have bloomed a lot. And what about the peach blossoms? They are as white as pear blossoms, but bright and red like Dohwa-nim's lips.-
The innocent Malaeung (Malay bear) and the peacock, who liked to decorate, approached and flattered her.
Dohwa chuckled and slung her grass bundle over her shoulder.
"I must go now. I'll come visit later. Don't fight, and don't get hurt. Wild Boar, don't just eat anything you find, and Fox, teach the tiger cubs not to bite people......."
-Dohwa-nim, really, why are you so worried? They say 'the fox borrows the tiger's power' (Ho-ga-ho-wi), right? I have seven tails now, so I can do well.-
"Yes. You are clever, Fox, so you will do well."
The sleek white fox showed off its seven tails and purred, rubbing its face against her.
'Just a hundred years ago, it was a newborn, but when did it grow up so much to act as the leader of the mountain.......'
Dohwa, having let go of a layer of worry, steeled her heart. She wanted to meet the other friends one by one and say goodbye, but if she did that, her heart would weaken, and she felt she would stay for several hundred more years.
She felt sorry for the fox, but she had no choice but to pass the responsibility on.
"Then, stay well."
Jang-i-jok Dohwa.
Ending her 454 years of seclusion in Dangsan, Sichuan, and descending the mountain.......
Feeling frustrated after 5 minutes.
"Th-this is Sichuan......?"
The world had changed a lot.
Not just changed, it had changed a whole lot.
"Move aside! A young woman spacing out in broad daylight."
"Only for now, three skewers of candied fruit for three coins! It's half-price, so everyone, don't miss this golden opportunity!"
"What is that guy? How are three coins a golden opportunity?"
Dohwa felt dizzy.
There are people. Too many people.
The Jang-i-jok's large ears caught all the noisy clamor, making her head ring. At the same time, she realized why her clan didn't come down to the human world often.
"Ughhh......!"
Dohwa, without realizing it, stirred up the earth's energy.
* * *
A girl in green clothes embroidered with the Tang character watched Dohwa, who was flustered in the street, blankly.
Her hair, as dark as the night shade but looking softer than silk, her eyes as blue as her own green clothes, her white and fine skin, and her delicate features that naturally made one exclaim at her beauty.......
'She definitely looks familiar...... Where have I seen her?'
She tilted her head while biting on her light green hair tie.
She definitely remembered seeing her.
In the book compiled by the founder of her family.......
"Ah! Dangsan Immortal-nim......? But."
Rumble!
The ground shook greatly and jutted out. A small hill had appeared out of nowhere in the middle of the marketplace. Big enough for one person to fit into.
"Seriously, what on earth is going on!"
Anyway. Seeing her handle the natural energy so proficiently, it really must be the Dangsan founder. It is right to treat her with the utmost respect. The girl said, resting her foot on the railing.
"The family's hidden guards...... announce to the whole world that the ancient one of Dangsan has descended the mountain."